Instinct
by Pyro's Apprentice
Summary: Soren was, undeniably, as cold blooded as they come. Even so, on that day he realized that even he had a feral instinct. He could only hope that it was enough.  A story of blood, battle, and perhaps even romance.
1. Chapter 1

"Pathetic."

Soren looked up to see Lethe standing over him, glaring. He quickly looked back down to his scratched hands and continued to apply the vulnerary to them.

"This wouldn't be necessary if you had only warned me about that thornbush-"

"It isn't necessary at all! You pathetic Beorc. You are wasting our last vulnerary on nothing but a scratch!" Soren shrugged, making Lethe even more angry. "Fine. I will be laughing when you die and we have no medicine left to heal you."

This seemed to happen every battle. Lethe and Soren had, to their own dismay, become the two experts at providing flanking attacks and supply line harassment. They were mobile, independent, and were capable of causing tremendous damage in the blink of an eye, only to escape the scene just as fast. Unfortunately, this kind of job often ended up requiring long periods of time trekking through the wilderness in each others' company, and it took every bit of patience within them not to tear each others' heads off during the trip.

This battle, though, was lasting too long. Lethe and Soren had traveled far without finding enemies, and their patience was wearing thin.

Finally they found the edge of the battle and two perfect targets for their first strike. They were soldiers, standing at the edge of the forest discussing something casually with their backs to Soren and Lethe.

Quietly Lethe whispered "I will kill the one on the left. You take the one on the right. Wait for my signal."

"Wait!" Soren hissed. "My magic will alert the other soldiers." Lethe wordlessly tossed him a small object, which Soren clumsily caught. "What is this?"

"Stupid Beorc! It is a knife. You will stab your opponent so you will not attract too much attention."

Soren looked at the object. Indeed it was a knife, enclosed in its scabbard, small enough even for him to wield. He almost considered using it, but quickly erased that thought.

"Lethe, I can't use a knife."

"Fine. Use magic. When reinforcements come I can run fast enough to escape."

Soren knew that she did not mean it but he allowed himself to get angry anyways.

"Selfish Laguz!"

"Useless Beorc!" Lethe paused. "I will kill them both."

Before Soren could stop her she transformed into a great cat. It always amazed Soren how she could so smoothly and quickly become an animal, and in his surprise Lethe walked away before he could protest.

She crept towards the soldiers not like a hunter stalking its prey but like a bold assassin, expecting a fight. Soren followed slowly; he was careful not to make any noise. She was only a few meters from the soldiers...

And then she struck! Leaping on top of her opponent, Lethe brought him down quickly. As they fell to the ground Lethe remained on top, and before he could scream she had her fangs in the soldier's neck.

The second soldier began to call for help, but Soren was ready. He quickly cast a small fireball spell, directed at the soldier's legs. The shout for help became a sharp cry of pain. Lethe lunged at him and he was dead before he could make another noise.

Both Lethe and Soren quickly scanned the area before relaxing. Soren had become accustomed to this caution after working with Lethe because, as she explained (in not such a polite way), reverting back to a human too early would leave her defenseless.

Lethe let out a growl and Soren spun around to where she was looking. Two enemy swordsman had noticed them and were charging towards them, although, Soren thought, they had enough time to escape...

But why run? He and Lethe could take on the swordsman; they looked weak. Nobody else was around, so the mage and cat ran to meet their opponents.

As they engaged the enemies, Lethe was careful to stay between Soren and the nearest swordsman. Usually the two were able to frustrate opponents by keeping the mage behind the cat, but these opponents were calm and cautious. One would advance a bit and then withdraw, each one trying to lure Lethe away from the other. Soren occasionally cast a spell, but the swordsman were difficult to hit and seemed somewhat resistant to magic. He would have to wait for an opportunity.

Meanwhile, Lethe was trying to give him that opportunity. She also threatened and retreated, but never actually attacked. Her attempts to position them, however, seemed to be failing. In fact, she realized, the swordsman seemed to be moving Soren and her to their own desired location. But to what end?

Ambush! Lethe turned towards Soren but it was too late. A third sword-wielding mercenary stepped out from behind a tree right next to the spellcaster, weapon held high. Everything moved so slowly! Soren took too long to realize the danger. His head turned towards his new opponent, eyes wide with fear, and began casting a spell that he would never have time to finish.

Before she knew it Lethe was sprinting full force at the mage. The sword was falling...

With one final lunge Lethe put herself between Soren and the blade. She felt a searing pain and heard a sickening slicing noise as the blade struck. Without enough energy to sustain her animal form she immediately reverted back to a human. She knew that she would die without healing, and since no clerics were around, her fate was certain. Surprisingly, this did not bother her. She had no anger, grief, or despair. In fact, Lethe could only feel relieved that Soren was unharmed.


	2. Chapter 2

Soren watched, wide eyed, as Lethe fell slowly through the air. The spell that he had started faded to a small spark within him and his mind went blank.

Soren SCREAMED.

The sound was completely feral, enough to make even a Laguz general proud, and certainly enough to terrify the three doomed swordsman. Soren's spark of magic exploded into a wave of energy, which he poured into the wind and hurled at the man who dared to strike his companion.

The man was knocked off his feet and blown into his two allies who missed their opportunity to attack. Before they could get to their feet the mage struck again. This time he drew even more magic from the tome. It was twice as powerful as the strongest spell he had ever tried to cast, draining every last bit of magic from the tome and fuzing it to all of the power he could fit in the spell.

"Die!" Soren commanded as he cast the spell. An enormous windstorm crashed into the three enemies and lifted them into the air. Their bodies were shaken like rag dolls and ejected so far into the distance that their attacker could not even hear the sound of their bodies landing on the earth. And though they might have survived, to Soren they were dead. It was the only way to calm his rage.

Without another thought Soren rushed to Lethe's side. She lay, face up, in the grass. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't unconscious.

"Soren," she groaned. He couldn't guess what she was trying to tell him.

"Don't worry Lethe," he said. He was crying, he realized. Useless. That's what he was. He couldn't see the ambush. He couldn't protect Lethe. And now, because he had wasted their last vulnerary Lethe was going to...

No. As long as she was alive he would not lose hope. Soren took out what was left of the last vulnerary and carefully pulled back Lethe's shirt. The wound looked deep and was still bleeding badly. Soren choked back a sob and started to dress the wound. Lethe didn't move.

When he was finished he picked up Lethe, with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. Ignoring the pain in his arms he brought her into the forest to hide her. Meanwhile his mind raced to figure out how he was going to save Lethe.

There was no way around it: she needed healing. Soren didn't have enough medical knowledge to use any of the herbs in the area, and there were no allies in the area. They had used all of their supplies, and the swordsmen, if they had anything useful with them, were long gone.

But, being in enemy territory, there were other enemies around who were bound to have healing supplies. Using the time since the battle had started and his current position, Soren quickly calculated where the nearest enemy should be. After carefully laying Lethe down in a hidden spot, he burned into his mind the her location and took off towards where he hoped he would find enemies.

Soren usually moved at a quick pace, but now he was absolutely flying through the forest. Branches snapped at his face and roots struck his feet, but he ignored them, straining his senses to find an opponent.

With one final burst of energy the mage crashed through one final line of trees and into a large clearing: his first chance to find opponents. He was in luck. One ideal enemy, a weak female cleric, was resting in the clearing, most likely tired from the battle. Her robes were stained with blood but she seemed uninjured. Though he was not confident with his abilities with a staff, Soren could at least keep Lethe alive with it. But defeating the cleric would have to come first. She took one look at Soren and pulled out her lightning tome. Soren swiftly retrieved his fire tome from his robes, but his opponent struck first.

Her aim was a bit off; the spell hit his shoulder. He felt a sting but it seemed to do no serious damage. Soren's spell followed quickly, and his delayed action payed off. By taking his time to cast the spell he was able to put more force behind it, and the grand fireball he conjured crashed into the cleric with enough force to knock her off of her feet-

But Soren's excitement quickly faded. Other than pushing her to the ground the spell had done almost nothing. Her resistance was too high and Soren did not have time to slowly wear her down. The mage reached into his cloak to retrieve a more powerful spell, but even as he did he knew that none of his spells were strong enough.

And then his hand hit a small metallic object that he couldn't place. Soren took out the object and held it before him: a silver knife, given to him by Lethe. It would be the perfect weapon for the situation, but could he really bring himself to use it? This time he didn't hesitate. Drawing the knife, Soren fell upon his opponent and struck!

It wasn't graceful or efficient. Without knowing what he was hitting he stabbed again and again, fighting back the cleric's hands. As he hacked at the cleric beneath him she screamed, but Soren thought of Lethe and ignored her. Blood splattered on his robes and face, but he thought of Lethe and ignored it. His muscles became weary and burned with pain, but he thought of Lethe and continued stabbing until the cleric moved no more.

Despite doing so well up to that point, Soren had to stop and look at the cleric he had killed. It was terrible, all torn and bloody, and he realized that he must look terrible as well. He took a moment to clean himself using the cleric's robes and returned to the task at hand.

And he stopped a second time when he realized the lack of a staff in her possession. Suddenly his epic battle seemed pathetic; if he hadn't killed her for healing supplies then why had he done it? How could he have forgotten the most important part? The mage tore through her robes searching for anything, anything at all...

And there was something! A full vulnerary, tucked away in her robes, that just might be enough to save Lethe! Without a second thought Soren pocketed the medicine and took off towards Lethe's location in full sprint.

This time the roots and branches on the way seemed only to push Soren forwards. Now that he had what he needed he wouldn't let _anything_ stop him. His legs were tired, his arms were dead, and his lungs felt like they were drawing lead instead of air, but he ran on. Before he knew it he was standing before the Laguz, who was unconscious but still clinging to life. Soren wasted no time in beginning his second treatment of the wound.

Vulneraries were wonderful things, thought Soren, and he decided never to leave camp without one. Though Lethe was in critical condition before, after using a second vulnerary she began to stabilize. The mage felt a huge weight lifted from him; finally he could rest. Without another thought he threw himself to the ground next to Lethe and let sleep creep over his senses.

As he began drifting out of consciousness Sore heard a noise. Fighting, he thought. Good thing I'm not part of that. Or at least, I'm safely behind enemy lines. Wait, that didn't sound right. With much pain and complaining he pulled himself back to alertness. If Ike's army was winning, which was very likely at this point, then the enemy retreat would go right through his position. Would they kill him along the way? No, none would recognize him as an enemy, and why risk killing an innocent fellow Beorc? But if he were a Laguz...

Damn! He couldn't let Lethe die after everything he had done! Distant shouting roused Soren's mind, but his body still refused to move. With a gargantuan effort Soren pushed himself to his hands and knees, and then slowly to his feet. Looking at Lethe gave him some encouragement, and despite the screaming in his arms he managed to pick up Lethe and throw her over his shoulder. The entire forest seemed to be pushing him down to the earth, and he staggered. Could a weak mage possibly carry this heavy Laguz to safety? He had to try.

One foot was raised into the air, moved forwards, and then dropped to the earth. The other foot did the same. Two steps done. Soren didn't even know where he was going. He couldn't outrun the opposing army. Was there a place to hide? If there was then Soren probably wouldn't make it there. He was past his breaking point. A gust of wind, a single tree root, or any disturbance would bring him crashing to the ground.

The mage traveled on, barely standing. At first he was looking for a place to hide, but before long the forest blurred into a mass of green and brown. Leaves, trees, dirt... and something blue? He staggered on towards the blue light. He wasn't even sure why anymore.

Ah, of course. As he passed through the last line of trees he made it out to be a lake. There was no way to hide in a lake, but he walked towards it anyways. For once he had no plans or logical reasoning. He felt wood beneath his feet and realized that he had walked onto a small pier. Looking up he saw a single rowboat docked at the pier with a rope lazily looped around a post. That, Soren decided, was his destination. His hands pulled the rope from the post, freeing the boat. His arms lay Lethe in their vessel and his legs gave out from under him. He fell on top of Lethe, finally able to rest.

As Soren was drifting to sleep he looked one last time at Lethe's face. She smiled and brought a hand to rest on the back of his head.

"Useless Beorc." She said. Soren smiled back.

"Selfish Laguz."

And the boat drifted towards the center of the lake.


	3. Chapter 3

Soren dreamed. He was floating in the air. Laying a cloud, he realized. For a moment he was worried; he had never been in a good dream before. But the cloud was so soft, and his head was resting so nicely. He decided to relax, or perhaps he just did without deciding. It was hard to tell in a dream.

He wasn't alone, he realized. The wind mage's head was cradled in a girl's lap. He looked up to see an orange haired angel, her head haloed by a sparkling full moon. It was hard to see her face, but Soren thought he could just make out a smile as she brought a hand to his face.

Her fingers gently brushed his hair away from his eyes. "Rest now," she said softly, almost too quiet to hear. "You're safe." A warm, unfamiliar feeling washed over Soren as he breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly he was awake.

His eyes opened slowly, revealing that he was indeed lying on his back, and although he was in a small, hard rowboat, his head really was resting nicely against something soft. It was Lethe, he knew, even before looking up to see her face. Just as it was in the dream, his head was in her lap and her face was bordered by the stars, though her gaze was directed purposefully away from him and he thought he could make out a blush on her cheeks.

"Lethe, you're all right!" He tried to push himself up to get a better look at her but a sharp pain in his arms stopped him in his tracks. He fell back against her, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Lethe was the first to break the silence.

"You really pushed your weak Beorc body, didn't you?" She said finally, still looking down at him.

"I… yes, I did. But only because you… you know…"

Silence again. Much to his embarrassment Lethe idly started playing with Soren's hair.

"Why did you do it?"

The question caught her off guard. All this time she hadn't questioned _why_ she did it; it felt natural.

"I don't know." Lethe admitted. "I couldn't let them… I had to do something…"

Soren met her eyes, which was awkward from his position. Lethe blushed and looked away.

"Besides," she continued, "What did _you_ do to get us here? There is blood on your robes but you have no wound."

"That's right, I owe you twice over. In order to get the vulnerary I required your knife; the cleric who carried it was highly resistant to my magic but fell quickly to the blade."

To Soren's surprise the laguz laughed.

"I wish I was there to see that! But what about the swordsmen?"

"Oh…" he began, searching for the right words. "I suppose I got a bit out of control. I screamed and-"

"That was YOU?" The mage flinched. "I dreamed of a giant's roar that shook-" Lethe caught herself before she went too far. "Well it was only a dream of course."

Soren looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. She turned away immediately and he couldn't help but smile at her stubbornness.

"You know, Lethe," he began. She gave him a questioning look. "We should do this more often."

"What?" the laguz asked cautiously.

"I mean- of course- we should end all of the animosity between us. This, umm, peacefulness is so much nicer…"

"Nicer?"

"No- I mean- for our productivity! We work much better together when we aren't fighting each other, and we owe it to Ike and the others to do our best."

Lethe laughed. "So the proud Soren wants to be… _friends_… with a Laguz?"

Soren hadn't intended to word it that way, but after some consideration he decided that was more or less what he was suggesting.

"Yes," he replied, and added "for the good of the army."

"Very well. We can try being friends."

They lay there, just the two of them in that boat, and neither one suggested returning for quite a while.

The two of them did eventually decide to depart, and with some difficulty in rowing they eventually struggled their way to shore. They made their way back to camp in silence; neither one was sure how to converse normally. Soren was still thinking of a way to start a conversation when he was snapped out of his thoughts by almost running into Lethe. She had stopped, although Soren couldn't see why.

"Careful," she said softly. "There's a thornbush ahead."

To Soren's surprise she took his hand and led him around the bush, and they instead trudged through a thick underbrush. Lethe didn't let go of his hand afterwards and Soren didn't complain.

When they reached the edge of Ike's camp, still holding hands, they paused. The Beorc and Laguz looked at their intertwined hands and then looked at each other. Their eyes met and they both blushed and looked away. Soren broke the silence first.

"I… need to report to Ike."

Lethe finally let go and their hands dropped to their sides.

"Soren?" She spoke softly. He looked at her again and noticed her bright red face and her sharp blue eyes looking down at the ground.

"Yes Lethe?"

"…Thanks."

She immediately turned away from him, reverted into a cat and ran off, leaving Soren trying to remember what she was thanking him for.

He did, of course, and then promptly set out to meet Ike, calculating in which areas he would have the highest chance of finding him. He didn't get far.

The mage turned on his heel, whipping his hair and robes around. He saw no one behind him but he wasn't fooled.

"Show yourself!" he demanded.

"Very perceptive Soren," a voice answered. A slender, male cat Laguz stepped out from behind a tree, complete with his odd headgear and his trademark smirk.

"Ranulf…" Soren remained on guard. The only common ground that he had with the other Laguz was, to his knowledge, mutual avoidance. In fact, Soren was sure he had never spoken to Ranulf directly before.

But that was no concern to Ranulf.

"You must be looking for Ike," the Laguz began casually. "See, I was just on my way to find him as well."

Still confused, Soren listened silently.

"In fact I was just came back from the woods where I ran into our two missing members who didn't return to camp last night-"

Soren froze.

"-and imagine my surprise when I saw them holding hands! Who would've thought, Lethe and Soren, the mortal enemies, setting aside their differences and-"

"Shut up!" Soren exclaimed, losing his temper. "What Lethe and I do is none of your business."

Soren glared at him, but Ranulf, while a bit taken aback, remained unfazed.

"Hey, hey, don't misunderstand," he said calmly. "I'm happy for you! Lethe's never had many close friends, and none of course with Beorc, so it's a good experience for her. And probably good for you too; maybe now you'll stop sticking your nose in the air whenever a Laguz scarfs down some raw meat."

Soren had about a million things to say to the Laguz, so naturally his mind started with the dumbest and biggest lie.

"I don't-"

"Not that it really matters," Ranulf continued. "We mostly do it to annoy you anyways. More importantly, I think this kind of intimate relationship is good for you two. I mean, Lethe's never been within 10 feet of a boy outside of battle and you, well, I'll never forget the time you tried to flirt with Aimee."

"How do you- no, I mean, that wasn't-"

"It wasn't?" Ranulf asked. If Soren wasn't so distracted he might have noticed how much Ranulf was enjoying this.

"No," Soren began, finally collecting his thoughts. "What I mean to say is that Lethe and I are only friends. We decided that our constant bickering was getting in the way of our combat capabilities so we decided friendship was the best solution. Nothing more."

Soren said all of this with a straight face and Ranulf had tried his best to match it, but he couldn't hold out any longer.

"Bwahahahahaha! Of course Soren, of course. I was just teasing you; I do it to my friends all the time. By the way, you're a funny guy. We should be friends. Anyways, I have some other business to attend to. Good luck finding Ike!"

And with that he walked off, leaving Soren wondering what just happened. Ranulf, for his part, had fun teasing one high-strung member of the mercenary force, but he still had one more to go, and he was sure it would be just as entertaining.


End file.
